Congratulations on impressing a dragon here at Ista Weyr! We hope that he is everything that you could want in a lifemate, though this inspiration is just a guideline for how to play your dragon. You are not required to follow all or any of it. The dragon is /yours/. We created a dragon for you who has the potential to develop in a ton of different directions as you change, both as a player and a character. We're excited to see where you and Manaslath go! —Hannah, Tasi & Dea
Dragon: Manaslath
Color: Brown
Name: Hannah; Tasi & Dea tweak
Egg: National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day! Egg
Desc: Jhishivyl
Dragonet: Spine of the World Brown
Dragonet Desc: Hannah; Tasi & Dea tweak
Messages: Tasi; Hannah & Dea tweak
Inspiration: Hannah, Tasi & Dea tweak
Clutching Message:
Miyakath is hungry— mm, she's hungry. It's been a long clutching— she /deserves/ a treat, Faranth be flamed! That same old hunger for something bloodygorymmsogoodherdbeast transmutes into something much more delicious, as seen in the next egg to be laid: an ooey-gooey plop of pure teeth-rotting sugar.
National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day! Egg:
Melty, swirly chocolate whirls along a backdrop of cherry-red, all but concealing the base color: neat and ovoid, this egg's plump enough to nearly be a circle, but still holds that oblong shape, thicker in the cream-smeared bottom half, thinner in the stemmed top. That chocolate confection continues to melt and whorl, from top to bottom, apex to sandy seat: a treat, to be sure, a drool worthy craft that's sure to make anyone hungry.
Hatching Message:
Dark swirls of rich chocolate starts to crack as fragments flake off, momentarily giving way to a startling shade of red before falling away entirely. In an unnerving effect, as if the center of this candied egg is somehow /wrong/, the egg shards scatter upon the sands, leaving a huddled mass of craggy angles and sickly browns. The only hint of cherry-red lies within the darkly whirling eyes that blink away lingering egg goo the color of cream. Emerging from the shattered egg is an angular lump that slowly rights itself into Spine of the World Brown Dragonet.
Spine of the World Brown Dragonet:
Dusk hovers dark around craggy peaks and valleys of angled flanks, curving into a deep, round belly. A medley of murky, sickly browns clash with blackened sienna to dominate his thin, angular legs and long, whip like tail. His wings are huge in span, but thin in girth as well as tattered and beaten in appearance. Yet despite his awkward, angular form he gives the impression of grace and fluid movements. Nary a rounded curve can be found amongst the angles and planes of his body, as neckridges form tight, asymmetric angles against his neck, colored in the same lackluster combination of mud and dark, dark sienna with just the slightest hint of frost touching the tops of malformed headknobs, quickly dissipating, fading back into the burnt sienna of his head.
Impression Message:
Spine of the World Brown Dragonet claws the sands as if he was trying to climb a mountain, shrouding his muddy browns with annoying grains of sand that cling to his still damp form. Heedless of the dangers he stumbles through the Sands, coating himself with more grains of sand with every step he takes. Ignoring this with dignity, he rushes arrogantly forward seeing his prize near the top of the mountain! With determined movements that are graceful despite his appearance, the ugly little brown sits at Nayla's feet. Rudely, he bellows out for her attention, making sure she knows she has been /chosen/. The bond has been made; his excursion is over for the moment.
Personal Impression Message:
A gravely voice slowly swirls out of the darkness and into your mind, with the tantalizing hint of mountain flutes echoing hauntingly through the undercurrent of mind tones, a gentle touch swirls in as if carried upon a gust of wind. Rich colors of brown and green intermix in your thoughts, exploring your mind as his is opened to you. He envelops you totally, making you feel like you are standing on the precipice of a mountain cliff. « Nayla? Nayla, you are mine now. » His voice echoes through your thoughts as if the vastness of his own mind throws his words back at you time and time again. His voice drips with arrogance, warmed by love and protection. « I am Manaslath, of course. I am yours forevermore. » Almost as a misplaced echo, the gravely, grating voice adds, « And am I not just the most handsome one? »
Clutch Theme:
Places around the world (climate, local flavor)
Inspiration:
The Himalayan Mountains. Being the world's tallest mountains are what first drew the eye to using them as a theme for your lovely dark Manaslath. More than that, we tried to come up with something that wasn't the 'typical' dragon. That's why we avoided Gaelic/Celtic/Japanese themes - because they are so prevalent nowadays in dragons. Not that they're bad, but we aimed for something different. Especially since you wanted something so different in a dragon and since you asked for a divergence from the "norm", we tried to give it!
So besides the fact that while the Himalayan Mountains can be pretty from afar, they're very dangerous and even ugly up close, fitting nicely with your desires, they are also based in India and Nepal. So you're dragon is very much flavored with these mountains that span these two countries. Which is why his name is based off of an ancient Sanskrit word - in all things we tried to get everything to cohesively flow together. We hope you like him! As always, this is a guide, so enjoy it and play him how you see him!
Most of my facts and figures came from this website: http://www.travel-himalayas.com/about-himalayas/ It's a really good source of information about the Himalayas - whether you want to know about the people, culture, or even who climbed what peak. Enjoy!
Egg Inspiration:
Okay, okay. I'm sort of ashamed to say this, but - I was reading a fanfiction, right? And in the fanfic, there was a bet between Seifer and Squall, about if there actually was a National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day. (Seifer won, by the way.)
And that's what struck off this egg. I'm not actually sure if it's an actual *cough* holiday or not, but it seemed like an amusing theme!
Plus, chocolate covered cherries are just plain ol' yummy, and that's what I hoped the description really carried.
http://www32.brinkster.com/seraphyem/egg.html
Name Inspiration:
Manaslath comes from the Sanskrit word, Manasa, and is based off of the Himalayan peak, Manslu. Manasa means "Spirit of the Mountain" in Sanskrit, which seemed so appropriate for him, simply because of his presence, and because the ancient language of the Himalayas is Sanskirt. He -is- the mountain peak. He is the height, length, and breadth of these awe-inspiring mountains. We combined it (a little) with the Hewbrew word for "Graceful", Chana to get Manaslath. So to complete his name meaning, he is the "Graceful Spirit of the Mountain."
Another aspect of his name is that it's not so "pretty" as other names. There's a bit of a tongue twister, so that you may often get comments from your fellow weyrlings and riders.
"Mansalath…erm…Mana…um…sorry, Nayla, how d'you say it again?"
It's clumsy enough to have the ugliness, but comes off your tongue so perfectly once you've figured it out. I kind of envision a running joke where for awhile, Nayla's the only one who can pronounce his name right. His opinions? Why, it's the greatest name in the world!
« Nayla? You simply -must- correct your friend. She did not pronounce my name right. How can anyone not pronounce it right? It is simply the best name in all of Pern. »
Mind Voice:
He will sing to you of dreams, Nayla, coaxing his words through mind tones that are reminiscent of waterfalls and springtime mountain air. Unlike his outer appearance, his mind voice is truly beautiful.
Manaslath will have many moods, much like his inspiration - the mountains. When angry, expect frosty tones interlaced with the scent of burnt forests and freshly turned dirt. When happy, expect to feel as if he's speaking through a burbling brook or a quickly dropping waterfall, filled with the scent of greenery and flowers. When he's sad, expect to feel as if gray clouds hover through his tones, while the strong and heavy scent of ozone reeks through your mind.
His tones themselves are coarse and gritty. He is not a pretty speaking dragon - he's not 'fluffy and perfect', that's for sure! His is a voice you can't forget, for not only is he just plain loud, but he echoes. Imagine standing on the top of Mount Everest and shouting and that's what he sounds like. His echoes are silvery and light, loud at first and finally fading into the carpet of your own personal thoughts. If you ever have a headache, he will be a pain to listen to. And he /loves/ to talk. He can talk about nothing. The flowers, the trees, the sky, himself or you are his favorite subjects.
You will notice something odd, occasionally, present in his mind voice: the haunting notes of a mountain flute. They will come to you as if carried on a sudden gust of wind through a steep valley in the mountain, and straight to your ear. These tones appear regardless of mood, regardless of whether he means to or not, always a subtle sound behind the graveled tones. And even in those hardest moments, when there's nothing else pretty in his mind voice, those flutes will still sing to you, reassuringly calm and quiet. Like the ghosts of the ancient Indian and Nepalese tribes that are nestled deep within the Himalayas are singing to you their own folk tale. These notes whisper along the channels and conduits of his complex thoughts, as if manifesting mysteriously through the caves of his mind.
Physicality:
He's huge. He's ugly. He's yours.
Manaslath is not your typical brown. He is like the Himalayas personified and wrapped up into this enticing package of a brown. Like the majestic peaks of the Himalayas, his sheer size will instill awe in you, if not others. He is not like his fleshy clutchmates, oh no, not Manaslath. Rather he is like the mountain face, filled with sharp peeks and deep dips where it would seem like his bones are coming straight up through his hide.
When creating your Manaslath, I took the mountains in my mind's eye and stripped them of their beauty. What you have left are huge, imposing faces of doom filled with sharp inclines and declines and danger. Now, Manaslath is not a dangerous dragon, but he isn't a pretty one. In fact, he's downright ugly. His darker colors don't mix well with his lighter colors, giving him an unfinished look. Imagine a very bony, malnourished dragon and you have Manaslath. But Manaslath isn't malnourished, he just looks it.
Contrary to his physical looks, he is very graceful. Wings, tail, feet - all of them together allow him to move nimbly and with grace. See his craggy wings? They may look like they couldn't hold up his girth, but they can and when he does fly, he flies with the best of them. So while you may bemoan his appearance, glancing at Xarine's Zeimyth's beauty, when he moves, he is a sight to behold. This is where his majesty is - in movement.
When Manaslath's young, he will have an uncanny grace that will belie his awkward, gangly appearance. His wings will grow much faster than his body at first, which will give him a predisposition to tripping and stepping on them. You will have to make sure that he doesn't accidentally tear them as you go about your weyrling training.
There are a few notable features to Manaslath. One, he gets his size from his grandmother, Dhiammarath and his cragginess from his mother, Miyakath. So, physically at least, he represents a couple of generations. He will inherit a little bit from his great-grandmother as well, but that's in the personality section. So, your Manaslath is a bundle of generation fun. Another thing to note are his malformed headknobs. They are not grossly malformed, but like the rest of him, are angled and sharp, and slightly twisted. They are rather like little gnarled roots that were crushed a little while in the egg. They just add flavor to his already ugly-flavored self!
In the coloring aspect, he's a muddy dark brown without any uniformity of color. Instead, he's very splotchy, very much like mud in the rain. However, on the top of his head and headknobs, there are a few white splotches, rather like snow capped peaks. His neckridges, as well, have a faint dusting of whitish on very top edges.
Personality:
Ahhhh, Manaslath is a dragon not to be tamed. He is and will always be a very big presence in your life. From the first moment of Impression, you knew that he would be recalcitrant and stubborn. His very essence drips with arrogance and snobbishness.
« I am -much- better looking than Niwath. »
When it comes to his appearance, he must be blind. He will spend hours during his weyrling training looking at himself in the depths of the waterfall's pool. Should you ever admire your fellow clutchmates' dragons, beware that you don't let your thought's slip through, because if they do, you will find yourself constantly regaled with how those -other- dragons pale in comparison to him. -His- coloring is sooooooooooo much better than Aeokaith's. -He- is muuuuch bigger than Aeokaith, even though Aeokaith is a blue and of course he's bigger.
During weyrlinghood? You'd better pull up your sleeves for a fight. He'll think that he knows everything. You'll have to work to get him to eat properly, to get him to want to take all of the lessons, « Lessons? I already know how to fly. It is an innate ability within me. Who needs lessons? » and be a team player. But when you finally do convince him or brow beat him into it, he'll put all of his effort and energy and actually have fun.
Once you've graduated from weyrlinghood, he will find excuses to find large bodies of water in which to stargaze at himself. You may find that on your way to Ista Hold, you find yourself circling above the waterfall's pool.
« Do my wings look off today? I think they do. Maybe you had better give me a bath and an oiling, hmmmmm? »
Despite his foul looks and his rather self-absorbed tendencies when it comes to his looks, he isn't a mean dragon, though others may seem to think so. You will find yourself constantly explaining away his foibles, because despite being honestly sorry that he may have offended someone, he is honestly too self absorbed, sometimes, to pay attention.
One thing he inherited from Quarith, his great grandmother, is the tendency to not mind-speak other rider's names.
« You may tell Belissaith's lifemate that you simply cannot see them today. You are going to be washing me. »
Nor does he contract his words. Like Quarith, he will speak only full words and with an air about him. Yes, your Manaslath puts on airs, but that's all his own weird quirk. So you will never hear him say words like won't, can't, don't, shan't or other nasty contracted words. Instead, he will dally about his speaking and say them long and slowly, cannot, will not, do not, shall not, etc.
Despite his mistaken ideas of self-importance, « What do you mean, Nayla? How could they not agree with me? » he loves you wholly and completely. To him, you are the second most beautiful thing - the first is him of course! - and every aspect of your life concerns him. From your romances to your sicknesses to your day-to-day to your kids, and even to those you love, he will cherish each and every aspect of you. You are his single most important reason for being. Even Threadfall will be nothing should his hide get marred or you get scored. He will listen to no one and instantly between to the infirmary so that you can get taken care of.
Should he ever father a clutch? He will be a flaky partner at best. He's too busy spending all of his time on him! He'll be very eager and enthusiastic at first and then that will wane off as the days progress into months. Once the eggs hatch, it will be another story all together. He will keep up a running commentary throughout the entire hatching on how this one looks like him or that one looks like him or how pretty all of his little dragonets are. However, once they're hatched and impressed? He loses interest. His attention span isn't short just with his offspring though, it's short with everything but the things that have to do with himself or you.
Despite his narcissistic tendencies, he can bandy words with just about anyone, especially if it gets him what he wants. And in all things, he will pursue what he wants with a passion that is second only to his passion for you. Manaslath will use this talent to get you things you may want as well.
« Bydelth? My lifemate thinks that we should have a weyr overlooking the waterfall's pool. I think that she should get this small boon. After all, she did all that work for you and yours just a sevenday ago. »
And maybe you don't necessarily want him to constantly be butting his head into your business, but that he will. And nothing is sacred, not even your most private relationships.
« Nayla, I really do not think you should be seeing this new man. He's not right for you. Now, this bronzerider I saw - he is just the /man/ for you. »
You will constantly get advice - that you probably don't want - on who you should date and who you shouldn't. It can even get to the point where you and your new fling are have a private moment, when you get Manaslath's voice in your mind.
« I would not do that, my dear. »
In the beginning, this can be really unnerving, and more than a little annoying. So, buck up Nayla! Manaslath will be a handful. Whoever said dragonriding was easy must have had too much klah!
Flights:
Manaslath is the ladies man! When in flight, he chases with gusto and being so very large, he is able to outlast most of the blues and almost all of his brown counterparts during the green flights. He prefers to chase after the golds. He is narcissistic enough to want to see himself in a bunch of baby dragons. In that respect, maybe he's a bit like Bydelth, hmmmm?
During the gold flight, he's big enough to stay in with some of the smaller and more competitive bronzes, but it's a work out for him. During the flight, however, he uses more of his brain than sheer brawn and tries to tempt the golds and greens to coming to him with his sleek moves and his debonair attitude. And he does have attitude! Mostly, though, his attitude is all about himself, but hey, it's a pretty big flaw - his love of himself.
The lust for flight will catch a hold of him during every flight, so be prepared to chase every time something female takes to the skies! When he wins? He can gloat for days, retelling the tale of his prowess for hours upon end to you or anyone else who can listen.
When he loses? Be prepared to spend all night consoling him. Sometimes even to the point where you don't find what you need until well after the flight. And that might be a cold shower. Sometimes, though, he won't want consoling. During those moments, you are free to find and end to your own torment only to come back and listen to him complain about how /he/ didn't get what /he/ wanted, so why should you?
More often than not, he'll catch his quarry. Sheer strength in outlasting his competitors or through his silvery tongue will prove to be his assets. He can spout anything that anyone wants to hear - but beware! He has a tendency to only do it when he wants something and once he has it, he can easily forget.
Threadfall:
This will be the hardest stumbling block for Nayla and Manaslath during weyrlinghood. You will have to coax him and coax him the first time - even during rope drills! - and not because he's afraid you will get hurt, but because he's afraid he'll mess his "pretty" hide up. And fret he will. You will have to listen to him during any free moment of Threadfall. « Nayla, can you just /see/ the char dust that is coating my hide?? »
Yet, despite his bandying about, when it's time to fight, he is a sight to behold. Nearly as nimble in flight as a blue, he is majestic and graceful when going after the Threads. While he may not be perfect, he gets his fair share.
When it's time to end for the day, Manaslath will keep you on your feet long after everyone's disappeared to relax. Why? It's time for a bath. And an oiling. And he won't let you rest until it's done. He will examine himself in the waterfall's pool, « Nayla, dear. I know you are tired. But you did miss a spot. See? I can see char dust all over my backside! » and if it's not perfect, guess who won't be sleeping tonight? So you'd better make sure you keep him in tip-top condition.
Harper's Tale's 37th PC Clutch
Ista Weyr
Yulianna's gold Miyakath and N'ano's bronze Bydelth
Monday, December 15, 2003
Clutchmates:
Raine's green Zeimyth
Ariah's green Belissaith
A'mar's green Naluth
Rele's green Tifaryth
Iya's blue Canllaith
B'au's blue Niwath
Issket's brown Lesoleth
S'nin's brown Kismetath
